Accusations of ABC bias

Has the ABC’s Chris Uhlmann strayed too far this time in supporting the Coalition? Has there been overall bias from the ABC toward the Coalition throughout the election campaign? Many think so and a change.org petition has been raised on the matter here: Stop the ABC Supporting the Coalition Election Campaign.

Herbert votes update

Election editorials

The Age wrote, “Democracy can deliver harsh outcomes, but whoever is the victor, it should be remembered the policy platforms of each major party have strengths and weaknesses. The challenge for each voter is to determine which best suits their preferences, or priorities (as outlined to a degree in this paper today and online with Fairfax Media’s YourVote survey).”: Education is key to future wealth.

Julie “Thatcher” Bishop

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has misquoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher whilst singing the praises of NSW Premier Mike Baird and condemning Labor governments everywhere. In answering a question about the Baird Government’s surplus budget, Ms Bishop attributed to Mrs Thatcher the line, “The trouble with socialists (is) they eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Tasmanian senate vote

Adam Morton reported, “Nine days out, and Hobart is decked in a rainbow of election corflutes, for independent MP Andrew Wilkie, for his major party opponents and (in certain inner suburbs) for the Greens. But arguably the most visible posters are of a woman in a different race who, according to conventional wisdom, has no chance of winning.”: Lisa Singh could win a seat for Labor despite being dump.

“The news comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday revealed people smugglers were using revelations Labor would provide a permanent home to 30,000 ­illegal arrivals in Australia as a marketing tool,” he wrote.

“Mr Turnbull’s intervention on the contentious issue follows The Daily Telegraph’s exposure last week that Labor would provide permanent settlement for the bulk of the 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived under the Rudd/Gillard government and are still awaiting processing in Australia.”

No Fibs also covered the “Cash for turnbacks” scandal in mid-2015 in which alleged payments were made to people smugglers by the Australian Government to return asylum seekers to Indonesia. The government refused to comment to the media or at a special senate inquiry into the matter. The full blog of the saga is here, By hook or by crook – The #CashForTurnbacks scandal.

On Wednesday, after a longstanding policy of not discussing the government’s asylum seeker policy of Operation Sovereign Borders, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed that Australian Border Force had encountered 28 attempted asylum seeker boats and refouled 734 people.

Also on Wednesday, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that a Vietnamese boat had been intercepted in the Timor Sea with 21 on board. He admitted that the problem of people trying to reach Australia was ongoing.

“The issue of boats and people getting on boats and paying people smugglers that somehow it’s gone away, it’s just not the case,” he said.

Barnaby Joyce no show

John Englart reported, “Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals candidate for New England, Barnaby Joyce, attended a lunchtime candidates forum in Tamworth, but was a no show for the Energy Futures Forum at Armidale in the evening of Tuesday 21 June. The New England electorate is a tight contest with former Independent MP Tony Windsor standing for election.”: Barnaby Joyce no show at Energy Futures Forum Armidale.

ABC News 24 – With Queensland protesters in the background, Malcolm Turnbull declines to comment further on Liberal Party candidate for Gellibrand Ben Willis who apologised for making comments against people who labelled Australia Day as Invasion Day.

James Massola and Jennifer Duke reported, “Labor’s proposed negative gearing changes could see property prices fall by up to 15 per cent and rents rise by 6 per cent, according to the worst-case scenarios in a new independent analysis.Under the best-case scenario, the new report by property analysts SQM Research states that Australian house prices would fall by a combined 4 per cent over 2018, 2019 and 2020 if Labor’s proposal to limit negative gearing is implemented.”: House prices to fall, rents to rise under Labor negative gearing policy.